SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 301

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2024 02:00PM
  • Apr/17/24 2:37:36 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister did not once mention corporate greed, which is driving up the cost of living. Young people are getting ripped off at the grocery store, and they know it. They see Loblaws and Metro raking in record profits, and yesterday's Liberal budget does nothing to address that. It continues to line Loblaws' and Metro's pockets with the Conservatives' $60‑billion tax gifts. Why does the Prime Minister keep siding with CEOs instead of with young people?
83 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:38:11 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this budget recognizes that our country's success depends on young people's success. That is why we are calling on the wealthy to pay a bit more tax so they can share more of the benefits with young people, to ensure that young families can pay their rent, buy a home and have better access to the care and services they need, particularly when it comes to day care and early childhood centres. We will continue to be there to support families in need by asking the wealthy to do a bit more.
99 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:38:52 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants people to know that the status quo is unacceptable, that Canada has become an unfair country where young people, an entire generation, cannot afford a home and families cannot afford food. If he finds out who has been running this place for the last nine years, there will be hell to pay. Will the Prime Minister complete his investigation and tell us who has been in charge for the last decade?
77 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:39:46 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, when we got elected, the first thing we did was raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lower them for the middle class, a measure that the Conservative Party voted against. We have continued to invest in young people and to invest in a national housing strategy after the previous government completely ignored housing. The former housing minister, who is now Leader of the Opposition, was responsible for creating exactly six affordable homes in his time as minister. We have continued to invest and we are going to continue to make sure that the economy is fair for every generation. That means asking the wealthiest to pay a little more so we can put more money in the pockets of the middle class.
125 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:40:30 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has got to stop getting his facts from his incompetent housing minister's Twitter account. This is the same guy who, as immigration minister, lost track of a million people. When I was housing minister, we built 92,782 new apartment units, with an average rent of $973. How many apartments will the Prime Minister build at the price of $972 a month this year?
70 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:41:10 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, our housing plan is the most ambitious and comprehensive in Canada's history. It will unlock close to four million homes by 2031. This will happen because we are working with municipalities and we are working with provinces to increase the levels of ambition. We have put out the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan this country has ever seen because we know that making sure that young people can afford a home, making sure we change the way homes are built in this country, is about building a stronger future for everyone in this country. That is what fairness for every generation looks like. That is what the government is focused on, while Conservatives are focused on cuts.
121 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:41:52 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we will cut the rent. When I was the minister of housing, we paid half as much for rent in Canada as we pay today. On the question of the Prime Minister's ambitious housing plan, I decided to read all about it in the Liberals' 2015 platform. They said, “We will make it easier for Canadians to find an affordable place to call home.” That was nine years ago. They have doubled the cost since that promise was made, and then they repeated the promise yesterday. Why would we expect the same promise, with the same programs and the same Prime Minister to be kept this time?
112 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:42:33 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago to speak with young people about the fact that we are supporting renters with greater protections and by making sure that the money they spend every month on rent actually gets counted in their credit scores to help them get a mortgage in the future. Our housing plan will unlock 3.87 million new homes by cutting red tape, by reforming zoning, by lowering the costs of homebuilding and by using public lands and vacant government offices for housing. We are making it easier to save up for a tax-free down payment. We are helping end chronic homelessness and making homes more affordable. We are going to continue doing the work—
123 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:43:14 p.m.
  • Watch
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
6 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:43:16 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is going to turn public buildings and land into housing. I wonder where he got that idea. Let me quote, “We will conduct an inventory of all available federal lands and buildings that could be repurposed, and make some of these lands available at low cost for affordable housing”. That is from his 2015 platform. Now, nine years later, he can only point to 13 homes on those public lands. Yesterday, he promised a “rapid review” of all the federal land portfolios. How rapid, another nine years?
96 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:43:52 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we made a choice. We made a choice to invest in Canadians, and that started when we took office because the previous government had not invested in Canadians. It continued to choose cuts to services. It continued to choose austerity over the kinds of investments that a confident country should be making in its citizens. That is where we have stepped up. That is where we are stepping up right now to make sure that young people have opportunities to build a strong future for themselves by asking the wealthiest 0.1% to pay more in taxes. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition continues to stand with the ultrawealthy while we stand with Canadians.
116 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:44:36 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister blamed immigration for housing costs and the immigration minister who caused it all. Then he made that minister responsible for housing. Since that time, the minister has had a $4-billion housing accelerator program that he admits will not build any specific homes. In fact, since it began, housing starts have gone down this year, and his housing agency says they will go down next year and the year after that. How is it that the Prime Minister can spend $4 billion on a housing accelerator program that decelerates homebuilding?
95 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:45:17 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to talk about the housing accelerator program, because it stands in direct contrast to any plan that the Leader of the Opposition has put forward to pick fights with municipalities and provinces on housing. We are actually stepping up with investments and allowing for more densification, for four units as of right, to make sure there is better use of public lands, including by municipalities and provinces. We are making sure we are changing the math around building affordable homes to unlock millions of homes over the coming years. This is the work that we are doing right across the country with people who are ambitious about solving the housing crisis. If the Leader of the Opposition does not want to help solve it, he needs to keep getting out of the way.
138 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:46:05 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, it was solved when rent was $973 a month, until he came along, but this is more proof that he is not worth the cost after nine years. He is blaming the whole world. If the world were to blame for the housing problems in Canada, then why is it that housing here is 50% to 75% more expensive than in the United States? Why is it that housing costs have risen faster than in any other G7 country relative to incomes? Why is it that we have the fewest homes per capita, despite having the most land and the most lumber? Why is that? Is it him?
110 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:46:48 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite well knows that Canada's population is growing faster than our fellow countries around the world, and that is a good thing. It is a good thing that we continue to draw in people to be successful in this country. It is also extremely important that we recognize that, even as the world is faced with challenges with inflation, disrupted supply chains, getting over the pandemic, conflicts and shifting geopolitics, Canada is on more of a solid footing fiscally than any of our other G7 partners, with a lower debt-to-GDP ratio, a lower deficit and a continued focus on creating the jobs of the future that Canadians need.
115 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:47:33 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, with his budget, the Prime Minister is recognizing that the issues that are really important to Canadians fall under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. Therefore, he is shamelessly using the fiscal imbalance, thanks to which he has a lot more money than he should, while Quebec and the provinces have less. Does he recognize that, to implement his budget at the expense of Quebec's jurisdictions, he is grossly abusing the spending power instituted by former Prime Minister Trudeau?
85 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:48:08 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, while the Bloc Québécois continues to look for a fight, we are working hand in hand with the Government of Quebec. With our housing accelerator fund, we have invested across the country, including in Quebec. Since Quebec was prepared to work ambitiously with us, we were able to invest $900 million directly in the province, and Quebec matched that amount to invest in housing. That is the kind of partnership that will deliver results for Quebeckers. It is a model for the other provinces as well, because we will be there to build houses and homes across the country.
107 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:48:49 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, Ottawa is working so hand in hand with the Quebec government that the Conservatives are recruiting from the CAQ. Will the Prime Minister admit that, by failing to meet his obligations, he is responsible for a $6-billion deficit in Quebec City, that he is responsible for making Quebeckers shoulder $8 billion out of his $40-billion deficit, and that he has just put Quebeckers $14 billion in debt in one year?
75 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:49:25 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, once again, all the Bloc Québécois wants is to pick fights in Ottawa. We are here to work in partnership with the Quebec government. Of course, we will not always agree on everything. That would be a little too boring. We need creative tension, and we have it. That is exactly what has produced results in terms of investments in housing and in Quebec's manufacturing future, investments that are creating solutions with long-term jobs for Quebeckers. We are here to work in partnership, and we will continue to do so.
98 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Apr/17/24 2:50:05 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, because of his centralizing ideology, this Prime Minister has declared that housing is a federal responsibility. That means the results are his responsibility. Montreal has seen a 200% increase in rental costs over the nine years this Prime Minister has been in power. He is not worth the cost. All his interfering in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the other provinces has only succeeded in inflating the cost of housing. Will he take personal responsibility and shoulder the blame for inflating the cost of housing?
87 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border